Republican gubernatorial nominee Larry Hogan appeared on the Jimmy Mathis Show on WBAL. Download This File

Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan says he has no regrets about an online ad his campaign placed on You Tube, hours after the polls closed this week, in which he called Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, the "most incompetent man in Maryland."

It is an ad which the Brown campaign and the Maryland Democratic Party accused Hogan of exploiting a cancer patient.

The ad, which has now been removed from You Tube, shows Brown and running mate Ken Ulman flexing their muscles in a pose known as "Zaching," the pose a tribute to Zach Lederer, the former University of Maryland basketball manager who died from cancer earlier this year.

Hogan addressed the criticism today on the Jimmy Mathis Show on WBAL.

He said that the Brown campaign didn't address the claims in the ad.

"They tried to completely change the subject. They were trying to politicize the thing. and in a disgraceful way quite frankly," Hogan told WBAL's Jimmy Mathis.

"They're trying to make this about a cancer patient, and it's just disgraceful on their part."

Hogan went onto criticize Brown in the interviewing, noting that the O'Malley Brown Administration has cut funding for cancer research, as well as "449 jobs related to cancer research."

Hogan's campaign did remove the ad from You Tube, after the Democrats criticized it.

Hogan campaign spokesman Adam Dubitsky told WBAL News that the campaign posted a new ad with a different image. Dubitsky noted that Brown never criticized the substance of the ad.

"He only took issue with a picture in it so we changed it for him," Dubitsky said in an email to WBAL News.

Reacting to Hogan's move Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, Brown's running mate, said that, "it is disappointing that Larry Hogan chose to use an image that honored the memory of a brave young man who recently died of cancer in an attack ad for political gain."

In an email to WBAL News, the Brown campaign said that Hogan's criticism of funding cuts is "out of context."

The campaign points out that cancer research funding to the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins was cut by 75% or $7.5-million in Fiscal 2010, and funding for cancer screening was cut by 25%, or $3-million. Funding to local health departments were cut by 25% that year, or over $1.3-million.

The Brown campaign points out those cuts were made to balance the budget that year, and in the five years since, the money has been restored and increased.

In the new budget that takes effect Tuesday, funding for breast and cervical cancer testing for low income women is cut by $1.47-million, a 10% funding cut.

The Brown campaign points out that more low income women now have insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and do not need to rely on state programs for these tests.

The campaign also points out that Hogan opposes the Affordable Care Act which funds breast cancer screenings.